Contact-shoe for third-rail electric cars.



l c. F. RAYDURE. CONTACT SHOE FOR THIRD RAII. ELECTRIC CARS.

APPLICATION FILED IUNE I4. 1915.

1,169,865. Patented Feb. 1, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- y c. F. RAYDURE. CONTACT SHOE FOR THIRD RAIL ELECTRIC CARS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I4, I9I5.

Patented Feb. 1, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

` Stimme,

CHARLES E. EAYDUEE, o-E WEsT PHILADELPHIA, EENNsYLvANIA.

coN'rlAcT-siioE Een' THIRD-RAIL ELECTRIC 'CAE-s.

Appncauonied June 14,' 1915.y s'riai Naaasvs.

T 0 all whom t may Concern.'

Be' itknown that I, CHARLES Barnum, a citizen-ofl the United States, residin-g at WestPhiladelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain; new' and useful Improvements in" Contact-Shoes for Third-Rail Electric Cars; of whichthe following is a specifica-tion. v

My invention relates to a third'r'ailcontact-shoe device', comprising the contactshoe member havinga central housing# for a spring andfbolt and'ha'ving'end pintles, and the-supporting member having a ribbed surface for a,k complementalsurface nut to engage on'e'ach side and 'a central projecting' perforated'plateto fitover the housing for the spring controlled-'boltofl the'con'tactshoel member and'throughy which'plate the said springcontrolled bolt of ysaid member is held 'bymeans `of't a tightening 'nut against disengagement, but free/'to `yield vunder the tension ofthe springof said bolt Iand with substantially semi-circulary end beufingsv to embrace the end pintles ofisaid 'contact-shoe `membe`r to thereby provide a contact shoe forthleldened purpose that can be'readily separated from the' supporting member, withoutdisturbing itorv the electric connections applied thereto and in connection with a fuse-box carried by thein'sulating car truck-beam.A y l Theprincipal objects of'myl present in-` vention "are,ffirst, to provid'ea contact shoe castvv in" two members so that' subsequent machiningr isunnecessary to adapt jit to use and a. shoe readily adapted 'to' variable car conditions with Arespect to r location of the third-rail with which suchshoe must' establish and maintain a good'workingcontact for practical service; andsecond', `to provide a contact-shoe in which the electrical connectizon'therewith as well as Ythe detachment of the supporting member from insulating car truck-beam may be facilitated and the contact shoe member without disturbing said supporting member and its connections as well as permitting of the parting of said contact shoe member from its said supporting member by the mere breaking or removing the tightening nut applied to the spring controlled vertical bolt holding normally the said contact shoe member in spring acting relationship with said supporting member to insure good con- 'specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. i, 19116.

tact of the same at all times with the third rail for eficient service.k A

The nature, scope and characteristic features ofr my said dened invention will be more fully understood from the following l description taken in'connection with the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, in which- Figure l, is a front elevational view of the complete contact-shoe in a position adapted for use, with the electric connections therewith to a fuse box `carried by the car trucl beaml and the line cables therefrom through the car; the said view embodying as to the contactshoe member and the supporting member both constructively asarranged in their connected relationship with each other the main features of my said invention. F ig.l 2, is a-top or plan view of the said contact shoe device. Figs. 3 and 4 are vertical sectional views on the line and y, g/ of Fig. l; and Figs. 5 and 6, are detached views in perspective respectively, of the contact shoe member and the supportingmember' thereof, showing the detail arrangement of each of the said members.

' tact-shoe member', consisting of a rectangular-shaped casting, as shown, with an integral shoe plate al, having a smooth bottom a?, throughout and in rear is formed a boX- likevertically projecting` housing a3, with an'oblong slot 44, in the top thereof, as shown in Fig. 5, and without a bottom, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. In the opening in the bottom 'is inserted a dish-shapedV iianged nut b, engaging the head of ya boltv b1, extending vertically through the said housing and body of said nutl engaging one end of a coiledor helical spring cl, mounted` on the said'bolt, all as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The rear .raisedy portion of the member a, on bothv sidesof the said housing a3, terminates in pintles at and a5, as clearly shown in Fig. 5.

The supporting member c, is cast with a smooth surface back and sunken face having on both sides of a horizontally arranged perforated plate c1, ribbed or ratcheted surfaces 02 and 03, with oblong slots 04 and c5, therein, the lower end of the said member 0, is formed into substantially semi-circular bearings 0G and 07, to embrace the pintles 0:4 and a5, of the member a, with at the same time the projecting plate c1, covering the top of the housing a?, so that the upper threaded end of the bolt b1, may have applied a notched nut d1, such as shown in Figs. l, 2, 3 and A, for holding securely the two pivotal members a and c, in operative relationship and under suoli a spring tension as to insure good working contact of the contact-shoe of one'of the said members with the third rail of the road-bed, not shown and without regard particularly to what the relation may be of the positioned contact-shoe in connection with the insulating car-truck beam and in respect to the position of the third-rail, as that can toa marked degree, be readily regulated by the tightening nut d1, on the bolt b1, to increase or decrease the tension under which the said bolt b1, is maintained.

The supporting member c, is connected with the longitudinal insulating truck-beam e, of the car by means of bolts el and e2, carrying ribbed surface washers e3 and et, and capped by nuts e5 and e, to hold securely the said bolts against movement in either direction of the said member 0, as clearly shown in Fig. l.

The electric connection f, fits a removable Y block f1, bolted to the recessed upper edge portion f2, of the member c, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The cable of said connection leads to a` fuse-box g, carried by the car-truck beamie, and therefrom lead line cables g1 and g2, as shown in Fig. l, to and through the car to the source of supply.

The important feature of the foregoing rdescribed Contact shoe device is that it is cast and employed without further machining to readily fit the supporting member and to establish a pivotal connection therewith and to be held'under required spring tension for a good working contact of the shoe with the rail. Moreover, when it becomes necessary to replace the shoe member due to wear or for any other reason, by simply splitting or removing the nut (Z1, this is quickly accomplished, without disturbing the supporting member held to the insulating truck-beam of the car. Such a defined arrangement of the shoe member is very desirable in practice and advantageous Vby reason of the saving of time and the little manipulation required to make repairs or to replace an old shoe memberV by a new one,

as theelectric connection with the device is in such part of the same as not to require being disturbed in making such repairs or in the replacing o f one part to restore the deviceagain to good working conditions.

Having thus described the nature and ob- )ects of'my invention, what claim as new I and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A contact shoe for a third rail, comprising a contact shoe member having a prol jecting housing, a spring controlled vertical bolt mounted in said housing, said member having end pintles, a supporting member withslotted ratcheted surfaces and withza Y central horizontal projecting plate fitting the top of said housing and through which said spring controlled bolt extends, a nut for tightening the same thereto, said supporting member connected with the car-beam and bolted thereto and a ribbed washer to v 2. A contact shoe for a third rail, comprising a contact shoe-member having in-V tegrally cast therewith a central projecting slotted housing and end pintles, a supporting member having substantially semicircular end bearingsv to embrace said pintles and a central perforated plate spanning the top of said housing, a bolt carrying a dishshaped washer with a coiled spring engagn ing said washer and surrounding said bolt and said bolt extending through the housing said supporting member and means detachably applied thereto for facilitating separal' tion of said members from each other,sub-

stantially as and forthe purposes described. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' Witnesses:

THOMAS M. SMITH, THEO. RosEMANN.

CHARLES F. RAYDURE.

copies of this patent maybe obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). C.

of said contact shoe'member and plate of 

